Gene Simmons Says ‘Rap Will Die,’ Gets Roasted on Twitter
Rock icon Gene Simmons had a lot to say about the state of music in a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine. Along with his distaste for pop music, the Kiss guitarist made the astonishing declaration that rap music will die someday.
For the record, Simmons hasn’t been a fan of rap music since the 1990s so his comments shouldn't be a total shocker. On the same note, In a 2014 Esquire interview, Simmons said that rock and roll is dead. So who's trolling who?
Nevertheless, in the RS interview, the 66-year-old musician views hip-hop as a fading trend.
“Rap will die,” he states. “Next year, 10 years from now, at some point, and then something else will come along.”
“I don’t have the cultural background to appreciate being a gangster,” he added. “Of course, that’s not what it’s all about, but that’s where it comes from. That’s the heart and soul of it. It came from the streets.”
Clearly, Simmons has been misinformed about hip-hop culture, and doesn't know that for over 30 years hip-hop has influenced every musical genre including metal and rock and roll.
Simmons concluded that he won't miss rap if it should ever died. As if.
“I am looking forward to the death of rap,” he says. “I’m looking forward to music coming back to lyrics and melody, instead of just talking. A song, as far as I’m concerned, is by definition lyric and melody – or just melody.”
When a follower asked Simmons if he made those ridiculous comments about rap, he owned up to them. He tweeted:
Of course, Simmons idiotic statements made its way onto social media and he was appropriately roasted on Twitter by rap fans.
"I would say rap is looking forward to the death of Gene Simmons but based on pictures he's already a rotting corpse," wrote one fan. Another person tweeted, "If I was [Gene Simmons] I would be mad that rappers are the rock stars now. Guys don't have to wear tights to get women now hahahahah."
Check out the reactions below: